TBILISI -- Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili says a probe is under way into suspected cases of forced disappearances.

Talking to lawmakers ahead of a vote of confidence in the new government on November 20, Garibashvili, who is also the country's acting interior minister, said that his government believed several hundred people were victims of forced disappearances under Georgia's previous authorities.

Garibashvili said that investigations into many of these disappearances had begun.

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili officially left office on November 17 after his successor, Giorgi Margvelashvili of the Georgian Dream political bloc, was sworn in.

A number of close Saakashvili associates were arrested on various charges after Georgian Dream won parliamentary elections last year.